Unfortunately, there are events that are impossible to predict and they often interfere with the things your preschooler is looking forward to doing. During these times, your preschooler may be disappointed because they didn’t get to attend an event in preschool or missed a field trip with their class. The letdown after such an event is huge especially if their classmates are discussing every detail of the fun that they had. There are some things that you can do to help alleviate some of the disappointment they feel.

One of the things that you can do is plan a replacement activity. For example, if your preschooler is sick on the day of the preschool party, plan something to do that relates to the party during that day at home. With a little decoration and some imagination, you can bring elements of the party to them. While you may have to wait for some things until they are feeling better, at least they won’t have felt that they have completely missed out on things.

Another thing you can do is to reschedule the activity. If your preschooler has missed a field trip that they really wanted to go to, then you can reschedule the field trip for a different day and invite some of their friends along. If this adventure is out of your price range, then consider redoing your living room into the adventure they would have had on the field trip. With a little creativity such as the use of stuffed animals to recreate a zoo experience, you and your preschooler can still take a tour of the zoo.

Sometimes, replacing an adventure with another adventure will not alleviate your preschooler’s disappointment. They may wind up throwing a fit or crying about it. In this case, you need to try to help them through this experience with some understanding. Tell them that it’s okay to be disappointed and that things happen. Try to get them to express their feelings about what has happened. Fortunately, this is usually over pretty quick because new adventures are right around the corner in preschool.

While your preschooler will become disappointed at times during their years at preschool, working through this emotion is a normal part of life. It can be hard on you to see your preschooler in such a state after they have become super excited about something. But even if they can’t do what they want, let them know that is fine to be disappointed and learning to deal with it is a part of growing up.